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Canada is now part of an international cartel to cut oil output & drive up prices. Canada and Alberta have already nationalized pipelines; the feds are subsidizing wages for oil workers, with more aid to come. So much for the & #39;free-market& #39; petroleum industry...2
Why not just go all the way and nationalize the industry? That would be very useful for facilitating its ultimate phase-out. With the industry accountable to society-wide priorities (not private interests of largely foreign owners), it could be reoriented to sensible phase-out..3
Germany nationalized its coal mining industry in order to facilitate an orderly shut-down of production (over a 10-yr period). That allowed for planning and staging of closures, inter-site mobility, & retraining. Shutdown was accomplished without a single involuntary lay-off...4
Multi-year phase-out of coal generation in publicly-owned Ontario Hydro is another great example of how public ownership & planning can facilitate fair transitions. Again, planning, staging, mobility & system-wide transition supports allowed it to happen without one layoff...5
Depressed asset valuations and the government& #39;s willingness to use unconventional financing mechanisms also would make this an excellent time to buy back control of Canadian petroleum. I do not expect this idea to be supported right now by either prov or fed govts...6
But I think there& #39;s a rational & pragmatic argument that public ownership of a dying industry can allow society to maximise the social value of remaining production, better protect workers & communities, and facilitate alternative investments (eg. in renewables) to smooth the way
